1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communications, and, more particularly, to integrating remote hardware and software in a social networking application and a direct-to-consumer marketing application.
2. Description of the Related Art
Interpersonal communication has dramatically improved over the past decades, largely due to technological advances in cellular telephone technology, and the internet. Although mechanisms for people to communicate are known and available, vendors and consumers, as well as people in purely social contexts, continue to strive for improved access to each other.
In one example, a vendor with a business desires to advertise on a social network. Examples of social network internet web sites include www.myspace.com and www.facebook.com, which typically allow an end-user to create a personal profile to be shared within the confines of the respective web site. Social networks typically facilitate private messaging between users, sharing of media such as photos, blogs or videos, personal interests of an end-user and comments or feedback on other end-user's content. Social networks may also function as a social calendar. In the prior art, the vendor, typically, was charged a significant amount of money to be represented as a normal “end-user,” and, in exchange, the vendor has access to “friends” for sending marketing-related messages. The vendor, typically can post pictures, comments, videos and bulletins and interact with other end-users, and even pose or otherwise be represented as a non-vendor end-user. Additionally, the vendor may be provided with options to collaborate with the social network, such as to run banner advertisement campaigns across the social network to reach a target demographic. The social network typically segments end-users most likely to be influenced by such banner advertisements, based on information those end-users have provided.
While it is possible that end-users supply erroneous information that may not accurately represent respective the end-users' social class, status, locations or interests, known social networks do try to reach target demographics accurately so that end-users are enticed to select banner advertisements and purchase respective products or services. Prior art social networks make a great deal of money from pseudo-end-user avatars, as known in the art, and may also charge vendors per end-user click on the vendor's banner advertisements. A pseudo-end-user avatar is any vendor that assumes an identity on the social network, but is backed by an organization or company as opposed to a single person, and functions in exactly the same way as a normal end-user. Prior art social networks also attempt to mine end-user demographic data to provide the most relevant and potential customers for vendors.
In another example, a vendor at a trade show desires to collect contact information. The vendor has a booth to sell his goods/services, and to present promotional signs and displays. In case a potential client or someone of interest walks by the vendor's booth and is interested in what the vendor is offering, the vendor speaks to the person directly, or hands the person a brochure or other marketing materials. In order for the vendor and the person to remain in contact in the future and away from the trade show, contact information of the vendor and/or person must be exchanged to allow the parties to communicate.
In yet another example, a vendor desires to provide relevant information to end-users. The vendor wants to advertise to existing and potential end-users in several different ways. Combined with typical known market research, the vendor can communicate in various ways, such as by direct mail, e-mails, as well as with other non-traditional marketing messages, such as short message service (“SMS”) and online banner-advertisements. However, the vendor must rely on prior experiences to guide choices about where and when to place such advertisements and may feel required to enlist the help of third parties to analyze customers and make recommendations for the best strategy to reach a particular demographic. The vendor may feel inclined to cull an end-user list for example, for a direct mail or SMS campaign from various sources and hope that the end-users are still interested in the vendor's products or services. Active and constant collection and tracking of user-provided data allows for more relevant and timely messages to the end-user.
In still another prior art example, a vendor wants to target end-users for additional sales during a point of sale, as known in the art. In the prior art, the vendor strategically places a sign or employs knowledgeable and charismatic salespeople with an ability to promote the vendor's campaign. This option is, typically, not available to most vendors. Occasionally a venue, such as a large stadium, however may provide a similar option, such as to promote some campaign, such as a “lucky seat” that entitles one or more customers to win something.
Another prior art example regards end-user communication, in which end-users desire to communicate with each other. In the prior art, the end-user can use a telephone, which may be impractical for contacting many people. Another option for the user is to read blogs or visit web sites to check whether plans or events are posted. Yet another option is for the end-user physically to visit places where friends might be present.
In yet another prior art example, an end-user desires to locate people having similar interests. Known choices that are available to the end-user include reading people's profiles on a social network, but the information posted thereon may be obsolete or wrong. Moreover, information may be poorly organized or otherwise difficult to locate. Another alternative includes physically meeting people in real-world places, or the user can join a club in the real-world or virtual group of other end-users and hope to find people having similar interests.
In yet another prior art example, an end-user wants to publish to his friends that he just attended an event, such as an exclusive concert or play. In the prior art, the end-user can call, write, or post about the shown on the internet to share the experience with friends and family. Unfortunately, the story of the end-user's experience must be taken at face value, though the end-user can back up claims with pictures or verification from other people who can confirm the user was present.
Thus and as described above, although mechanisms and devices are available for communication in the prior art, problems and shortcomings still persist that impede people from communicating with each other.